Bridge Fire Strands Sunset Limited near San Antonio

A bridge fire Thursday night shut down rail traffic near San Antonio, which brought Amtrak’s Sunset Limited to a halt.

Amtrak chartered buses to rescue the 155 passengers and 12 crew members aboard the eastbound train, which also has through cars between from Los Angeles to Chicago that are interchanged in San Antonio with the Texas Eagle.

The fire broke out about 10 p.m. on a trestle on the Union Pacific tracks in Southwest Bexar County.

News reports said fire destroyed the 100-foot long bridge over a creek. The bridge is located near MacDonna LaCoste and Hackelberg roads.

Amtrak No. 2 was halted about 1 a.m. Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said passengers had food, water, electricity and air conditioning, but a passenger called a local radio station to report that the train smelled of urine and feces. “We can’t even flush the toilet,” she said.

Union Pacific spokesman Jeff DeGraff said the fire broke out about midnight.

“For right now, we do have some trains that are being rerouted on alternate lines, mainly going north into Dallas, then they can come back down to San Antonio,” DeGraff said. “We also have some trains that have a little more flexibility in their schedule and we have been able to hold those.”